Recap / The Big Bang Theory S 4 E 4 The Hot Troll Deviation

Plot

Howard turns to Penny for help to win back Bernadette, during which, an embarrassing secret of his comes out. Meanwhile, Sheldon and Raj go to war over sharing the same office.

Tropes

• Actor Allusion: When discussing reasons for Howard and Bernadette breaking up after Howard says that it was because he did something stupid, one of Leonard's suggestions is that he accidentally ran over a hobo. This wouldn't have been Johnny Galecki's first role as a friend of someone who hit a stranger with their car.
• Ambiguously Gay: This episode may be the strongest implication of this trope for Howard.
  Bernadette: What's George Takei doing here?
  Katee Sackhoff: Howard, do you have latent homosexual tendencies?
  Howard: Wha-of course not!
  George Takei: So you say. Yet, here I am.
• As Herself: Katee Sackhoff reappears as Howard's fantasy, and is joined by George Takei, much to Howard's confusion.
• Argument of Contradictions: Sheldon and Raj's arguing over the massive desk escalates to this. Raj is only too happy to tweak him this way, saying growing up with five siblings means he can certainly handle it now.
• Ash Face: Raj after his aroma candles ignite with Sheldon's hydrogen sulfide and ammonia gas.
• Bait-and-Switch: Penny opens the door after hearing Sheldon knocking on the door and saying "Penny"... only to reveal Howard having Sheldon's voice on his phone.
  Howard: Would you have opened up the door if you knew it was me?
  Penny: Not since I found out the teddy bear you gave me had a webcam in it.
• Batman Gambit: Howard wants Penny to be the go-between to patch things up with Bernadette, but he anticipated she wouldn't answer the door for him, so he used a recording of Sheldon and imitated the three knock bit.
• Brutal Honesty: Over the whole embarrassing mess that led to their break-up last season:
  Bernadette: Howard, you did have a real woman. I was right there in the next room, while you were clicking that troll's brains out.
• Dirty Coward: Howard mulls over how to play interacting with Bernadette for the first time since their break-up, only to dive under the table when she approaches. Sheldon describes it as pathetic and frightened, and Raj notes it's an old standby to be sure.
• Escalating War: Between Sheldon and Raj over the latter getting a desk. It starts with Raj getting a huge desk that takes up half the office to spite Sheldon. The resulting exchange of juvenile pranks culminate in an explosion in the office singing Raj's hair.
• Exact Words: Sheldon said Raj could get a desk. Raj gladly reminds Sheldon of that when showing off the "Brobdingnagian monstrosity" to him.
• Explosive Stupidity: Sheldon is mixing hydrogen sulfide with ammonia gas to try to get rid of Raj. Raj counters with aroma candles, but as Leonard points out, the chemicals Sheldon is mixing are highly flammable...
• Gone Horribly Right: Needless to say, Sheldon did not have explosions in mind when he started brewing those noxious fumes.
• Good Angel, Bad Angel: As Howard and Bernadette make out in his car, Katee Sackhoff and George Takei are in the back seat giving Howard advice; she encourages him to go all the way, he advices him to take it slow.
• Hypocritical Humor: When Howard says he's taking Bernadette out for miniature golf, Leonard quips that's regular golf for them.
  Howard: Short jokes? Really? You’re, like, a quarter of an inch taller than me.
  Leonard: [proudly] Yeah, and don’t you forget it.
• I Am Not Spock: Invoked when Katee and George discuss how they deal with being typecast.
  George Takei: You try and stretch as an actor, do Strinberg, O'Neill, but all they want is "Course laid in, Captain."
  Katee Sachkoff: Tell me about it. It's frakking frustrating.
• Inherently Funny Words: Sheldon describes Raj's enormous desk as "Brobdingnagian", a choice of words Raj mocks Sheldon for.
• Jerkass Has a Point: Sheldon making Raj pay for his own desk when Sheldon had the budget to give him one was a dick move, but he had every reason to be upset the desk Raj bought was a prime minister-sized desk that took up half the room.
• Moment Killer: Penny ends up being this during Howard and Bernadette's talk, as she keeps interrupting the conversation and bringing free food items so she has an excuse to keep listening in. The manager calls Penny out for offering complimentary nachos off screen, though she presumably makes Howard pay for them.
• Noodle Incident: How Raj got his massive desk into his and Sheldon's shared office; the only detail he gives is he needed help from four other people.
  Sheldon: How did you even get it in here?
  Raj: That's for me, Ramón, Julio, Jesús, and Rodrigo to know, and you to find out.
• Resolved Noodle Incident: Why Howard and Bernadette originally broke up is finally explained; she walked in on him doing the cyber-nasty under the Bridge of Souls with Glissinda the Troll in World of Warcraft.
• Shout-Out: Brobdingnagian derives from Brobdingnag, the land of giants in Gulliver's Travels.
• Taught by Experience: At work, Penny says she won't even bother asking the guys what they want for dessert because of this. She knows Sheldon's rigid routine, Raj being wholly incapable of telling her anything, Howard's penchant for innuendo, and Leonard's lactose-intolerance.
• Troll: Raj immediately cops to the fact that his desk's massive size was solely to piss Sheldon off. He feels that's working out wonderfully.
• Unsettling Gender-Reveal: Howard ends up learning that the troll he had some fun with was created by a guy from Facilities Management, Steve Patterson.